Employers see benefits of workplace flexibility

RuthMantell

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Workplace flexibility — telecommuting, flexible hours and other employee accommodations — is an idea growing on employers who are trying to grow their companies out of the recession.

While the idea of workplace flexibility is familiar — companies have been working for years on strategies to enable employees to have some say over when and where they work — it may become more appealing for firms looking to retain workers stressed by higher productivity demands, and attract those searching for a better spot, industry participants said.

“Employees are maxed out,” said Kyra Cavanaugh, president of Life Meets Work, a Chicago area flexible workplace consultant. “[Companies] just can’t get anymore productivity out of employees coming out of the recession, and they are starting to leave their workplace. People are fed up. Market forces are making flexibility a more strategic alternative to some of the other ways that companies used to manage growth.”

Longer-term trends may also push firms to adopt more flexible policies. Women are continuing to obtain high levels of education, incentivizing them to remain in the workforce, and creating demand from families for increased flexibility. Also, there’s evidence that younger workers, who will be make up a larger chunk of the workforce as baby boomers retire, place strong emphasis on their work product, rather than hours spent in a cubicle.

According to a 2010 report from the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, the benefits of flexible workplace arrangements — less absenteeism and turnover, and improved worker health and productivity — can outweigh costs.

Coming out of the recession, Cavanaugh said, she is seeing companies shifting to more structured policies about flexible work, and away from one-off arrangements for individuals. Much of the recent growth at Life Meets Work is from companies that already have programs, but want to make them better, she said.

“Companies are saying that they need to be more formal about flexibility,” Cavanaugh said.

Karol Rose, principal for advisory services at FlexPaths, a Hillsdale, N.J.-based flexible working services provider, said companies are increasingly seeing that flexibility can serve a business need, and that there is considerable interest in teleworking.

“More and more are realizing cost savings,” Rose said. “It’s not necessarily a company going from bricks and mortar 100% to 100% remote working. The key with flexibility from a cost and function perspective for employees and managers is to make sure it works for both parties.”

Amra Metcalf, marketing director for eTripTrader, a Boise-based provider of an automated work-shift trading technology, said enabling workers to plan their own schedules, within limits, can help managers, as well as reduce absenteeism.

“Our experience is that employees don’t want to call in sick when they don’t have to,” Metcalf said. “If they have another option, they would rather pursue it. Employees can trade shifts to attend a child’s activity … there are options so they don’t have to use their sick leave.”

Who gets what?

Not all employees have the same access to flexible workplace arrangements.

Relatively speaking, less-skilled workers have less scheduling flexibility than more highly-skilled workers, according to the CEA report. Read CEA report. Also according to the CEA, while more than half of employers reported that they allowed some workers to change the times they start and stop work, less than one-third of full-time workers reported they have had flexible work hours.

Larger organizations tend to offer a greater number of flexibility programs, according to a February report from WorldatWork, a membership organization that provides research about human resources issues. According to the report, workers in manufacturing tend to have fewer flexible options that those in health care and social assistance. Also, the most common flexible workplace programs are: part-time schedules, flex time -- a flexible start and stop time -- and specific telework arrangements that allow workers to be home to, say, meet a repairman or care for a sick family member.

It can be tough for employers to find a way to extend flexible arrangements to all workers. After all, someone has to be around to sign for packages or watch a production line. However, some firms are finding ways to offer flexibility to a wide range of workers. Allison Funk, who leads a team of receptionists at Dallas-based tax services firm Ryan, said team members can each use a half day every week for personal business, making the time up during the rest of the workweek.

“We used to have a girl who ran, so Tuesdays and Thursdays she would come in two hours late,” Funk said. “It’s mainly about keeping in touch and communication, making sure we have everything in the office covered.”

At Chevron, the firm recently added a program for employees in the San Francisco Bay area to have access to emergency child care. At General Mills, certain employees can take unpaid personal sabbaticals for up to 12 weeks, and at some manufacturing plants, hourly employees can trade work hours.

Challenges for flexible programs

Management can be a roadblock even when a well-intentioned human resources specialist creates a plan for a flexible arrangement. If top level managers aren’t on board, a program won’t get off the ground. Middle managers can also object to flexible arrangements.

“We are asking managers to manage people they can’t see, and to manage flexible teams where people are coming and going, and so it really challenges the bottom-line goals of managers, which is to get work done,” Cavanaugh said.

Resistance may be due, in part, to lack of clarity about how flexible programs will benefit the bottom line. According to the WorldatWork report, just 7% of organization try to quantify the return on investment from flexibility programs. However, the report indicated that an organization enjoyed a lower voluntary turnover rate the higher it rated itself on a flexibility scale.

Mortgage Rates

Powered by

This advertisement is provided by Bankrate, which compiles rate data from more than 4,800 financial institutions. Bankrate is paid by financial institutions whenever users click on display advertisements or on rate table listings enhanced with features like logos, navigation links, and toll free numbers. Dow Jones receives a share of these revenues when users click on a paid placement.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.